Spooktacular Projects for Your Halloween Party

No tricks, just treats with these creative Halloween projects that will help you throw a truly ghouly and spooktacular Halloween party!

Haunted Dioramas

You’ll need:

• a shoebox
• white tissue paper
• white yarn
• candy pumpkins and candy corn
• spooky cut-outs from magazines: black cats, monsters, bats, etc
• glue
• construction paper
• scissors
• markers or crayons

Cover the shoebox, inside and out, with construction paper in the colors of your choice. Place it on its side, with the opening facing you. If desired, use the scissors to cut a window in the back and glue a full moon cut-out to the window. Let your child draw in wallpaper and floors. Cover one of the candy pumpkins with a tissue; tie a bit of yarn underneath to hold in place and make a ghost. Have your child draw eyes and a spooky face on the head. Poke a hole in the corner of the ceiling and hang the ghost by the yard at its neck, tying a knot at the top to hold it in place. You can use the same method to hang bats and owls from the ceiling. Glue spooky cut-outs inside and out. Be creative with decorations; use more tissue and glue to create curtains around the window, use extra cardboard to make a frame for a spooky portrait, and rip tissue paper with his fingers to make cobwebs. Create an eerie walkway with a row of candy corn, and pile mini pumpkins in the corner to lure tiny trick-or-treaters.

Costume Highlights

You’ll need:

• Neon yellow, pink or orange posterboard
• Scissors
• Silver reflector tape
• Optional: neon paint and paintbrushes
• Optional: plastic jewels and glue

When your child’s crossing streets in the dark, visibility is key. Once she’s picked out a costume, brainstorm about accessories that could be fashioned from neon posterboard and reflector tape. Knight, pirates and Jedi Masters need bright yellow swords. Princesses and fairies stand out in pink bangles and headbands. Puppy dogs and ladybugs shine in colorful collars. And everyone from the littlest trick-or-treater to the oldest chaperone can decorate their costumes and treat bags with bright tape and neon paint.

Spooky Snacks

You’ll need:

• old cooked spaghetti
• grapes (ideally, Concord grapes)
• white Chiclets chewing gum or white Tic Tacs breath mints
• red fruit leather
• seltzer water and cranberry juice

What could be spookier or more delicious than a plate of peeled grape eyeballs, tiny teeth, or fruit leather tongues? You’ll want your little one to eat his full of spaghetti brains before diving into a bag of sugary candy. Don’t forget to wash it down with a glass of bloody soda, 1 part seltzer water to 2 parts cranberry juice. Happy Halloween!